Improved Order of Red Men - IORM

The Improved Order of Red Men, a fraternal organization which once was very active in Camden and Camden County, is best remembered in the city of Camden for having built the monument and statue which stood for over 60 years in Pulaski Park, on Haddon Avenue south of Benson Street, the present site of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Camden Campus. The monument, which is topped by a bronze statue of an American Indian Chief, was erected to memorialize South Jersey members of the group who had died while serving with America's armed forces during World War I. Nicola Berardo, a sculptor who lived in Camden, was commissioned to execute project.

In 1981 Pulaski Park was demolished to make way for the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Camden Campus. This statue and a statue of General Pulaski were supposedly put in storage, to be re-erected in Camden. This, however, was not the case, as this monument was taken to Route 9 and Center Street in Tuckerton NJ, where it was rededicated on May 21, 1981. The Pulaski Monument was taken to Cooper River Park in Pennsauken NJ.

The Red Men also owned and operated a hall at As early as 1910 and as late as 1929 at 536 Division Street, the corner of Broadway and Division Street. Beginning in the 1920s and through at least 1928 a building on the southwest corner of North 4th at and Arch was utilized. The Labor Temple at Broadway and Royden was lease for a time in the 1920s. The 1920 and 1930s the Black Hawk Tribe used a hall 715 North 27th Street. These buildings were all known, appropriately enough, as Red Men's Hall, or Halls, to be grammatically correct, By 1929 the Red Men had moved form North 4th and Arch Street to 415 Pearl Street.

The 1910s and early 1920s were probably the high water mark for the Red Men in Camden, and possibly in New Jersey. The 1924  Camden City Directory shows that Camden was the home of the Great Council of New Jersey, at 540 Federal Street, the Daughters of Pocahahontas, and of 10 Tribes, as follows:

There was a Saranac Council No. 79 at 440 Stevens Street by 1927 and through 1929. The Ottawa Tribe was still active in 1928, but the 1929 City Directory does not list it. The Directory shows that the Great Council had moved to 7 North 4th Street, and 5 of the Tribes were gone, leaving:

The 1947 Directory shows that only the Wyoming Tribe still maintained a building in Camden, at 417 Pearl Street.

Its hardly accurate to describe the Improved Order of Red Men as the first Native American order--they didn’t admit Native Americans.  But they were at least among the earliest American orders not imported from somewhere else.  Understandably, the order had a hard time during the Indian Wars of the 1880’s. There may be some small individual Lodge sites and there are a few Red Men still around.  There are many collectors of their jewelry, probably because of the Indian motif.

Who Are The Red Men?

The Fraternity was founded in 1765 and was originally known as the Sons of Liberty. These patriots concealed their identities and worked "underground" to help establish freedom and liberty in the Early Colonies. They patterned themselves after the great Iroquois Indian nation and its democratic governing body. Their system with elected representatives to governing tribal councils had been in existence for several centuries.

After the American Revolution the name was changed to The Order of Red Men. They kept the customs and terminology of the Indians as a basic part of the Fraternity. Some of the words and terms may sound strange, but they soon become a familiar part of the language for every member. The Masons are similar to the Order of Red Men in that they have patterned their rituals and work after the Ancient Masonic Craftsman. The Order of Red Men is a National Fraternal Organization that believes in ..

• Love and Respect of the American Flag...

• Preserving our Nation by defending and upholding the principle of free Government...

• America and the democratic way of life...

• Preserving the traditions and history of this great Country...

• Creating and inspiring a greater love for the United States of America...

• Helping our fellow men through organized charitable programs;

• Linking our members together in a common bond of Brotherhood and Friendship;

• Perpetuating the beautiful legends and traditions of a vanishing race and the keeping alive of its customs, ceremonies, and philosophies.

Legally, The Order of Red Men is a Patriotic Fraternity Chartered by Congress. It is a Non-Profit Organization devoted to Inspiring a greater love for the United States of America and the principles of American Liberty.

The Order of Red Men traces its origin to certain secret Patriotic Societies founded before the American Revolution. They were established to promote Liberty and to defy the tyranny of the English Crown. Among the early groups were: The Sons of Liberty, Sons of Tamina and the Red Men.

On December 16, 1773 a group of men, all members of the Sons of Liberty, met in Boston to protest the tax on tea imposed by England. When their protest went unheeded, they disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians, proceeded to Boston harbor and dumped overboard 342 chests of English tea.

During the Revolutionary War, members of secret societies quenched their council fires and took up muskets to join with the Continental Army. To the cause of Freedom and Liberty, they pledged their lives, their fortunes and sacred honors. At the end of the hard fought war, the American Republic was born and was soon acknowledged among the Nations of the world.

Following the Revolution the various secret societies founded before and during the conflict continued in existence as brotherhoods or fraternities.

For the next 35 years each group went its own way, under many different names. In 1813, at historic Fort Mifflin, near Philadelphia, several of these groups came together and formed one organization known as the Society of Red Men.

At Baltimore, Maryland, in 1847, the various local tribes came together and formed a national organization called the Grand Council of the United States.

With the formation of a national organization, the Order of Red Men soon spread, and within 30 years there were State Great Councils in 21 states with a membership of over 150,000. The Order continued to grow and by 1920, tribes in 46 states totaled membership over one half million.

Today the Order of Red Men continues to offer all Patriotic Americans an organization that is pledged to the high ideals of Freedom, Friendship and Charity. The same ideas on which the American Nation was founded.

A local group of Red Men is called a Tribe, and its Lodge is called a Wigwam.  The supreme head of the order is called the Great Inchonee. The officers of a Tribe are: Sachem (chief); Prophet (chaplain); Senior Sagamore (lesser chief); Junior Sagamore (lesser chief); Chief of Records (secretary); Collector of Wampum (financial secretary); Keeper of Wampum (treasurer). 

Even though Aprons were abolished as part of the regalia in 1869, regalia initially consisted of both aprons and collars.  The collars were color-coded representing each of the three degrees: The initial, or first degree collar was pink (later changed to orange); the second degree collar was blue; and the third degree was scarlet. The aprons were scarlet, trimmed with the color of the degree of the wearer. 

The Red Men degrees are called Adoption, Hunter, Warrior, and Chief. In the Adoption Degree, a paleface is naturalized into the Tribe. The Hunter's Degree, which is a prelude to the Warrior Degree, illustrated the manners and customs governing the chase, by which the hunters provided nourishment for the tribe. The Warrior's Degree illustrated the manner of enlistment for war. The Chief's Degree illustrated the religious forms and ceremonies of the Indians. The Degrees utilize such emblems as the bow and arrow, tomahawk, war club, wampum belt, peace pipe, and skeleton.

The IROM's stated goal is: "to perpetuate the beautiful legends and traditions of a vanishing race and to keep alive its customs, ceremonies and philosophies."

The Degree of Pocahontas was created for women on January 15, 1887, drawing on the legend of its namesake and the virtues of her life.

In November 1878, the Improved Order of Red Men organized the National Haymakers' Association which was its "fun" or "friendship" branch that was formed in response to the success of the Masonic Shrine of North America which had been founded in 1870. 

In 1847, the various local tribes came together in Baltimore, Maryland and formed a national organization called the Grand Council of the United States.

• George Washington

• Samuel Adams

• Thomas Jefferson

• Patrick Henry

• John Hancock

• Richard M. Nixon

• Thomas Paine

• Paul Revere

• Theodore Roosevelt

• Warren G. Harding

• Franklin D. Roosevelt

• And many others

  " I am confident that in the final analysis we shall find that the stability of our government depends not so much on our armies and navies, though they may be vastly important, but rather, we must depend upon the Brotherhood of Humanity as represented by great force of fraternity. The fraternal societies are one of the greatest powers for good government and the protection of the home that we have in this country.  The government will endure just as long as we protect the great interests represented by our fraternal societies."

  ---Theodore Roosevelt---

  The IORM has a website at http://www.redmen.org/  

  

  What they looked like!

  

  Here are a couple of early Red Men wearing the sash, badge and ceremonial pouches of their Order.

  

The Red Men in Camden

CAMDEN NJ James H. Reeve and members of the Wyoming Lodge 155 Improved Order of Red Men Click on Image to Enlarge

23 Broadway 1912 The Goff Building Camden Post-Telegram Advertisement October 14, 1912 Improved Order of Red Men Julius Guyn James J. Lovern

1922 - Improved Order of Red Men Badge awarded to Grover Cleveland Herman Behm by Ottawa Tribe No. 15, January 5, 1922
Click on Image to Enlarge

1924 - Grover Cleveland Herman Behm wearing Improved Order of Red Men regalia in rear of 725 Fern Street, Camden
Click on Image to Enlarge

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